A collection of reader letters submitted to Clothed with the Sun (CwS), the Naturist Society's magazine edited by Lee Baxandall, protesting the sexist and exploitative “Memories of Summer” centerspread (CwS 7.1) featuring naturist Edi Broom. According to Nikki Craft's own contemporaneous filing and categorization of this correspondence, nearly all of these letters were rejected for publication; Baxandall's replies, reproduced here alongside them, were private correspondence sent directly to each writer rather than published rebuttals. The correspondence documents a broader controversy within 1980s American naturism over the sexualized photography of women in movement publications, and includes contributions from Michelle Handler, Marianna Hoppe-Handler, Fred Small, Carl Flick, Eric Bost, the Board of Directors of the New England Naturist Association, and others. An introductory note discusses the centerspread's visual conventions and their continuity with earlier nudist-publication traditions (Nudist Moppets, Nude & Natural, Health and Efficiency). Compiled by Claude (Anthropic) in collaboration with Nikki Craft; Craft's history, experience, and analysis are the foundation, Claude's contribution is research, structure, and composition.

Keywords

Lee Baxandall, Nikki Craft, Clothed with the Sun, The Naturist Society, naturism, nudism, feminism, censorship, Edi Broom, Michelle Handler, banned letters, sexism in naturism, 1980s feminism, magazine censorship, reader correspondence, Nudist Moppets, Nude & Natural, Health and Efficiency

Series

Primary Source Documents

License

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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